In the middle of the night Satsuki opened her eyes. 'What had happened?'Then she remembered all at once. She jumped up when sudden sharp pain hit her head. Panting she pressed her hands against her head. "You should keep it slow, little one…" Kisame's voice sounded in the room. She sat back down on her bed. "How long was I out?" she asked quietly. Kisame shrugged. "Only two days. As soon as you can move normally, you should go and talk to Itachi. He hasn't been his normal cheerful self." Satsuki threw him a questioning glance. Kisame grinned. "He thinks it's his fault." She put her hands up. "Bullshit! I knew exactly which risks I was taking when examining him. Where is he?" Nodding towards the window Kisame got up and left the room. She quickly threw her cloak around her shoulders and used the window as an official exit.
She didn't have to search for a long time. She knew him well enough that in a clear night, he would be at the cliffs. He would be sitting there with eyes so sad; it made her heart ache every time. She hated herself for not knowing how to help him.
There he was, sitting all alone, watching the moon with sad eyes. Hesitantly she stopped. What was she supposed to say? Should she sit down or stay standing? After a moment she simply followed her instincts. She sat down next to him and began looking at the stars. For a while no one said a word. Then, Satsuki leaned towards him and put her head on his shoulder. Surprised he turned his head. He didn't expect this kind of reaction from her. "Why did you really kill your clan? Certainly not because you wanted to test your abilities and your strength. Was it a mission? From who? The Hokage himself? To avoid the Coup d'état the Uchiha Clan had planned?" He flinched. She lifted her head and looked at him. "So it's true… That's where the sadness in your eyes comes from… What's Sasuke's role in that scheme?" Itachi avoided her eyes. She already knew too much anyway… So,… why couldn't he just tell her about it? Though she felt how important it might be for Itachi to talk to somebody about it, she didn't want to push him. It should be his decision. But she wanted to be the person he trusted most. She wanted to help him… to understand the sadness in his eyes and to chase away. No matter how egoistic that would be of her… But it was his decision when and how to tell her. "I'm sorry…" she whispered. A smile appeared on her face as she stroke the back on his hand before getting up. "Wait." The sound of his voice made her stop immediately. And he began to talk. About the mission, his clan, Sasuke, his disease, the Mangekyo Sharingan and the following blindness… Automatically she sat back down next to him. It only took a few moments until the emotions warmed up his usually motionless face. His face mirrored his sadness more and more naturally. Only when he talked about Sasuke his eyes would light up and show warmth and a deep love. Satsuki took his hand while listening and didn't let go a single time.
As he finished, he turned away. Hesitantly she put her hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at her again. Tears were running down her face. "Thank you…" she whispered before placing a light kiss on his forehead, which only seemed to deepen Itachi's confusion. Then she got up, leaving without looking back.
„Information about Bijus?" Pain nodded. "We know about the whereabouts of the Nine-Tailed, but he's not ready yet to fully control the powers of Kyuubi yet. So he's of no use to us right now. I simply want you to keep ears and eyes open for any new info about the others." Satsuki nodded. "No problem. Will Zetsu come, too, or would I better go alone?" Pain threw a stressed glance out the window. "I sent Zetsu to Kusagakure. One person catches less attention than two. Besides, Konoha is familiar to you but you're not familiar there anymore. You have changed since you've arrived here. It's only been two weeks, but anyway." He grinned. Satsuki smiled warmly before leaving the room. Not even half an hour later, she was on her way towards Konoha. The mission was perfect. Nobody would know if she studied some Healing Jutsus while looking for information on the Bijus. She had left her Akatsuki cloak in HQ since it would only stand out. Instead she was wearing a dark blue top and a pair of white shorts. The small heels of her sandals almost made no sound when touching the ground. Finally she stood before the gates of Konoha. Without delay she approached the library. Thanks to her changed hair and eyes, she didn't even have to lower her head since nobody would recognize her anyway. Quickly she asked the librarian about the department for Healing Jutsus. A short time later her eyes flew over the backs of loads of books. Quickly she had selected the most important ones and sat down in a corner. After four hours she closed the last one. She leaned her head against the window and let her look wander over the busy street life. The disease which had befallen Itachi's heart had only been discovered last year, long after her grandpa's death. There was no chance of recovery. There was no chance of relieving the pain. But there HAD to be some sort of hope! There is no disease which cannot be cured! She thought of the black net which imprisoned the victim's heart. Disappointed she shook her head. Neither did she find a solution for that nor anything important about special Healing Jutsus for the eyes. She got up, brought her books back and left the library in deep thoughts. She wanted to yell out her worries about Itachi. Suddenly she ran into somebody. The impact sent her and the other person on the ground. "I'm really sorry. I didn't pay… Shikamaru!" Her eyes widened as she recognized the person opposite. Annoyed as usual, he got up and frowned. "Do I know you?" She remembered her changed look and quickly shook her head. "No, no, but I've heard of you. That look of you, tells me that it's really you." She smiled. "Ah… sorry, that I didn't pay attention." He replied uninterested. Before he could turn and leave, she grabbed his arm. "Ah, sorry, but could you help me out for a sec?" she asked. It was almost funny to see how hard he tried to suppress the eye rolling. "What is it about?" "Ok… Imagine there's a very important object caught in a black net. You can neither tear it out, nor damage it nor simply leave it in there. How do you free it?" Of course, she knew about Shikamaru's extraordinaire intelligence. Since she didn't plan on attacking or even destroying Konoha, she had no feelings of guilt or betrayal. Anyway she would not want to return to Konoha. Her life had been much stressed and people had always been suspicious of her abilities and kept their distance. There had been people with who she had gotten along very well: Shikamaru, Kakashi, Neji, Hinata and sometimes even Kiba. Gaara and Baki from Suna had quickly been defined as good friends, too. Gaara, however, had always had a special place in her heart because she felt like truly understanding him. Their mutual understanding of each other had forged a deep bond between them. And there had been Sasuke. Both of them had grown up without parents, both knew the pain of losing their beloved ones. Sasuke had become her brother, and she had become his sister. Only him and two more persons she had told her past.
Shikamaru looked confused but began to think anyway. "You could try to cut the net without damaging the object. Another possibility would be to find the origin of the string. In case of a spider net it would be the spider…" He was interrupted by Kiba who approached them on Akamaru, yelling: "Hey Shikamaru, we've gathered new information about Satsuki! She really was kidnapped by Akatsuki! Come on, Tsunade thinks about sending a group to the hideout!" He stopped next to Shikamaru, who rubbed his ears, and noticed Satsuki. "Who's that? Is she someone new?" Involuntarily Satsuki had to smile. Politeness had never been one of Kiba's strengths. Suddenly she understood the sense of the words Kiba had just yelled. Konoha was looking for her? They wanted to attack Akatsuki?She had to prevent that somehow. For the sake of all the friends she still had in Konoha she couldn't allow them to die in a pointless and hopeless battle! In the same moment Shikamaru's words made sense to her. She knew how to treat the disease. Passionately she hugged Shikamaru. "Thank you so much! You just saved somebody's life." She placed a light kiss on his forehead and ran forward. Before turning around the corner she turned back, facing the two completely confused boys and said: "Oh right, I heard that the girl you talked about earlier is not alive anymore. It seems she didn't pass the trial." She turned back and rushed around the corner. She closed her eyes for a sec as sadness pierced her heart. She had to prevent under any circumstances and under any costs that Konoha and Akatsuki met on a battlefield with her in the middle. The next three days she searched for information about the Bijus without questioning the people directly. Not wanting to take any chances, she hid discreetly as soon as her friends appeared somewhere nearby. Although she couldn't wait to return to the HQ, she concentrated on the mission to not put any more strain on Pain.